Central Railway to make travelling more entertaining and faster with better seating and ventilation on old rakes turned new; LCD units will be fit in damage proof housings, which will be protected from theft

Travelling on the Central Railway (CR) network may just become an entertaining ride come next month.
The long drawn period of indecision has finally come to pass with the CR giving the nod to install LCD screens on local trains in the city.


LCD screens in a compartment of a local train in Central Railway

CR has decided to have LCD screens installed in 10 trains initially and has also given the go-ahead to have the fourth row of seats modified so that passengers will not only have ample leg room, but will also be able to view the screen while facing forward.

The authorities were initially concerned about the safety of the LCD units and miscellaneous electronic accessories and also what programs to telecast.
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Those obstacles have been overcome with the decision to fit LCD units in damage proof housings, which will also protect against theft. "We will be selective in what we air and will mute the sound in the beginning," said a CR official.

Each local train consists of nine rakes, and one LCD screen will be installed in each rake. Telecast rights will be given to advertising agencies and will bring in annual revenue of Rs 6.4 lakh for the railways.

Agencies managing the channels will be allowed to telecast selective programs along with railway related messages and information regarding train timetables etc during breaks.

LCD screens are a regular feature on long distance trains like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express and Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express.

Interestingly, Western Railway (WR) was the first to install LCD screens in local trains in 2009, but was discontinued within eight to nine months due to vandalism and damages caused by passengers.

Sharat Chandrayan, Chief PRO, WR, said, "The main reason for discontinuing the LCD screens from local trains was because of security issues.

Apart from this, we had to mute the sound, which left passengers disinterested."

CR is currently in the process of converting old Direct Current (DC) rakes to be fitted with LCD screens to Alternate Current (AC) rakes as well, to speed up trains.

Sunil Mathur, CR, said, "The old rakes have been retrofitted to work on AC and DC, which will allow us to use motor coaches beyond their stipulated life span."

The life of a motor coach according to the manufacturer is 25 years, whereas life of an engine is 35 years.
In all there are 61 old rakes with CR and the go-ahead has been given for 10 rakes to be modified by the Kurla Car shed Engineers.

In addition to the technical modifications being made, passenger comfort is also a factor that is being taken into consideration.

Fibreglass seat rests and handles will be replaced by stainless steel ones with first class seating being done with comfortable foam covering.

For better air circulation within the coaches, steel cage partitions will be introduced instead of the fully closed ones.

"We are designing the new rakes to look something like the new MRVC rakes and expect good feedback from passengers," added a CR official.

The new rakes will sport yellow and red exteriors and the paint being used is polyurethane paint, which will allow for easy cleaning.u00a0

Vineet Kumar, Dy General Manager, CR, said, "This innovative move has been taken by the Central Railway under the supervision of our GM.

The amenities like LCD screens provided in the modified rakes will be provided in other rakes if passenger feedback is good."

Flashback
On February 1, 2009, commuters on a Churchgate-bound local train were shocked to see explicit ladies lingerie commercials being telecast on LCD screens installed in the train.
Though enjoyed by some, many people travelling with family and children were unhappy.

Ek Cutting!
Dabba
The word 'Dabba' is used by Mumbaikars when referring to a train coach. Dabba also refers to tiffin sets that people carry to work. Dabbawallas, who deliver lunch to people's workplaces, are a common sight at railway stations.

37.4 lakh
Total number of passengers travelling by Central Railway everyday

105
Total number of rakes in Central Railway

44
Total number of rakes owned by MRVC

61
Total number of old rakes in Central Railway